Vienna is one of the best student cities in the world

Austria's capital, Vienna, is one of the 50 best and most attractive cities for students worldwide according to a study by QS, the London based educational networking platform.

The latest ranking by QS Best Student Cities places Vienna 15th in the world. Paris tops the list for the second year running, followed by London just two points behind. The next places go to Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne, Zurich, Hong Kong, Boston, Montreal and Munich.

The city ranking was produced by the team of the annual QS World University Rankings and is based on five pillars which are subdivided into more detailed criteria: university ranking, mix of students, quality of living, employer activity and affordability. Participation in the ranking is limited to cities with populations of at least 250,000 which are home to at least two QS ranked universities. A total of 98 cities worldwide met these criteria, with 50 appearing in the new ranking. Oslo (Norway), Auckland (New Zealand) and Prague (Czech Republic) were listed for the first time.

The ranking criteria increased from 12 to 14 this year. New additions included the Globalization and World Cities Index as an indicator of quality of living as well as the iPad Index as a guide to affordability.

Ben Sowter, head of research at QS says "The ranking's new methodology puts Vienna in a strong 15th place. Vienna continues to top the 'quality of living' category with the maximum points (100) and also does very well in the "student mix" category (88 points), making it an exceptionally attractive place to study".